BellaAbzug Posted July 19, 2021 Share Posted July 19, 2021 Hello all. A few years ago my parents cleaned out their place and passed along my unbuilt 1/2" scale kit house from childhood, which reawakened my interest in the hobby. Half scale is my jam but I have a small collection of inch-scale dolls that I'm rehabbing a inch-scale house for. I have a ton of questions about techniques and preferences so you'll probably hear a lot from me! I'm attaching 2 shots of the Lighthouse Keeper's Cottage I've been rehabbing (RGT, half scale). I added a window on one side and a chimney/fireplace on the other. It's still a work in progress. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mid-life madness Posted July 20, 2021 Share Posted July 20, 2021 Welcome Abby, The Keeper's house looks great. Thanks for sharing. We love eye candy around here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Roxy_ Posted July 20, 2021 Share Posted July 20, 2021 Welcome ! You cottage is superb, especially that chimney ! Is this egg carton stone ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted July 20, 2021 Share Posted July 20, 2021 Welcome to the little family, Abby. I love that stone work on your chimney. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amyole Posted July 20, 2021 Share Posted July 20, 2021 Welcome to the forum. This is the right place for questions/answers. I love your lightkeepers cottage! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medieval Posted July 20, 2021 Share Posted July 20, 2021 Great job rehabbing your cottage, I too love your chimney, but I also love your slate roof. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BellaAbzug Posted July 20, 2021 Author Share Posted July 20, 2021 The chimney is indeed egg carton! And the slate roof is homebrew as well--plaster over cardboard, cut and painted. It needs a bit of touch-up (and then sealing, I think) but I'm really happy with how it turned out. I'm finding the pre-grooved floorboards bug me--I'd like to fill in the seams with something (like I've seen IRL) and I might scratch some breaks and details into the board. Likewise the clapboards seem too big for vintage wooden clapboard in half scale, and I'm debating adding rows in between the existing rows sometime. If anyone has ideas for floorboard "grout," I'm all ears! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted July 21, 2021 Share Posted July 21, 2021 I buy the iron-on wood veneer at the hardware store and cut and split it into "floorboards". The first time I used this was for the bedroom floor in my 1:24 hacienda: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mid-life madness Posted July 22, 2021 Share Posted July 22, 2021 On 7/20/2021 at 4:33 PM, BellaAbzug said: If anyone has ideas for floorboard "grout," I'm all ears You can buy thin (1/32") plywood and cover the floor. The start fresh https://www.amazon.com/Midwest-Products-Birch-Plywood-24-Inch/dp/B000BQWZFQ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BellaAbzug Posted July 24, 2021 Author Share Posted July 24, 2021 On 7/22/2021 at 11:37 AM, Mid-life madness said: You can buy thin (1/32") plywood and cover the floor. The start fresh https://www.amazon.com/Midwest-Products-Birch-Plywood-24-Inch/dp/B000BQWZFQ I have a sheet of that but have had a hell of a time cutting straight strips, much less of consistent widths. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FurMama Posted July 24, 2021 Share Posted July 24, 2021 Welcome Abby! Your Lightkeeper's Cottage looks great. Holly has often talked about filling imperfections with a mix of sawdust and glue. That could be stained/colored to match. That's an awful lot of grooves to fill though! If it were mine and it really bothered me I'd cover it with a sheet of random board flooring. 🤣 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted July 24, 2021 Share Posted July 24, 2021 6 hours ago, BellaAbzug said: I have a sheet of that but have had a hell of a time cutting straight strips, much less of consistent widths. No need to cut individual strips. You can mark the separations between boards with the back of a utility knife and a metal ruler. Color them with a fine tip marker or stain the floor and leave stain in the grooves. Both methods "read" well. (Remember: smoke and mirrors. In miniature we are striving for the appearance of realism.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BellaAbzug Posted July 25, 2021 Author Share Posted July 25, 2021 23 hours ago, FurMama said: Welcome Abby! Your Lightkeeper's Cottage looks great. Holly has often talked about filling imperfections with a mix of sawdust and glue. That could be stained/colored to match. That's an awful lot of grooves to fill though! If it were mine and it really bothered me I'd cover it with a sheet of random board flooring. 🤣 Yeah I'm not looking to mask them away so much as chase the depth and texture of real old floorboards, which tend to have caked-up varnish (or dust? or both) filling the gaps between boards. I might try scraping in a mix of sealer and stain and wiping it away from the surface. 17 hours ago, KathieB said: No need to cut individual strips. You can mark the separations between boards with the back of a utility knife and a metal ruler. Color them with a fine tip marker or stain the floor and leave stain in the grooves. Both methods "read" well. (Remember: smoke and mirrors. In miniature we are striving for the appearance of realism.) There are so many applications that call for strips of wood (siding, molding, furniture, etc.) that I really wish I could cut my own. No doubt there's a $300 hobby tool for that somewhere 😉 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted July 25, 2021 Share Posted July 25, 2021 29 minutes ago, BellaAbzug said: ...No doubt there's a $300 hobby tool for that somewhere 😉 For less that USD$20 you can get a cork-backed steel ruler and a Stanley retractable utility knife & blades. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted July 25, 2021 Share Posted July 25, 2021 9 hours ago, BellaAbzug said: No doubt there's a $300 hobby tool for that somewhere 😉 How about $9.99? Wood Strip Cutter from Micro Mark 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BellaAbzug Posted July 28, 2021 Author Share Posted July 28, 2021 On 7/25/2021 at 6:58 AM, KathieB said: How about $9.99? Wood Strip Cutter from Micro Mark Fabulous! This is exactly what I need. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted July 28, 2021 Share Posted July 28, 2021 Micro Mark also has magnetic gluing jigs for when you get ready to make furniture, picture frames, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.